This is after the confirmed cases of Zika virus here rose from one last Saturday to 82 so far.
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The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department (SBCPHD) announced that the virus has been discovered in a nonpregnant female who recently traveled to Mexico.
The World Health Organization and the C.D.C. have urged pregnant women against travel to more than 45 countries in which the Zika virus is spreading, mostly in the Caribbean and Latin America. One of the most likely and cost effective tools for public education regarding the Zika virus would be an application (app) created to provide basic information to users.
CDC Director Thomas Frieden reports that the agency has depleted $194 million of its $222 million budget for combating Zika virus, even as the disease actively circulates in at least one state.
Willis Jacobson covers the city of Lompoc for Lee Central Coast Newspapers.
There are now 558 travel-related cases of Zika being investigated in Florida. Over 2,260 cases of the Zika virus have been reported within the United States, but this number will continue to increase as the virus spreads across the country.
Amnuay added that Thailand had not seen the prolonged spread of the disease in any affected area and the number of patients was not overwhelming.
Most of the early infections were among foreign workers, hundreds of thousands of whom, mainly from the Asian sub-continent, work on Singapore’s construction sites and in the marine sector.
Researchers screened 6,000 compounds that were either already approved by the FDA or were in the process of a clinical trial because they could be made more quickly available to people infected by Zika. Mosquito control officials are also working in the areas to kill the insects.
While mosquitoes are the primary source of the virus’ transmission, it also can be contracted through sex, and can be passed from a mother to child during birth. “If they develop any suspicious symptoms, they must immediately tell doctors”, Amnuay said.
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The Lane Blood Center will begin testing blood donations no later than mid-November for the Zika virus after receiving a nationwide advisory from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The virus has been linked to serious birth defects, including microcephaly. Because of this, the CDC recommends all pregnant women with ongoing risk of Zika infection, including residence or frequent travel to areas with active Zika virus transmission, receive screening throughout their pregnancy. While there, Vector Disease Control International, a D.O.H. partner in fighting the disease, explained and demonstrated the mosquito treatment process, which resulted in 37 additional families scheduling appointments to receive larvicide and vector control treatment at their homes this week, according to D.O.H.
